By Lauren Iszo, CNN

(CNN) — Multiple aid workers were killed after a bus was attacked in Gaza on Wednesday night, according to a US-backed humanitarian aid organization which accused Hamas of carrying out the assault.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a controversial US and Israeli-backed aid initiative, said on Wednesday night that a bus carrying more than two dozen of its team members was attacked by Hamas at around 10 p.m. local time, killing five and injuring others. GHF added on Thursday that three more team members had died.

CNN has reached out to the Hamas-controlled Government Media Office in Gaza for comment.

In reference to the same incident, Al-Khazindar Company, a Palestinian group working with GHF, said on Thursday that Hamas militants had targeted its workers, killing eight people.

“Hamas targeted them after several threats, and we never expected the situation to escalate to the point of assassinating these workers,” the company director Raafat Al-Khazindar told CNN, adding that other workers were beaten and shot.

The incident happened near the Quba Mosque in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, the director added.

On Sunday, Hamas media said its forces have “full authority and mandate to strike decisively against any entity or individual collaborating with the enemy’s plans or with any rogue, criminal, or traitorous elements that violate the law and the traditions of our people.”

“All agents, thieves, and armed criminal gangs are considered legitimate targets for the resistance and its security apparatus,” the militant group said.

More than 20 Palestinians killed

GHF was established amid Israeli accusations that Hamas is stealing aid in Gaza and profiting off its sale but the organization has been controversial from the get-go and criticized by multiple international aid agencies.

The humanitarian situation in Gaza remains desperate.

Multiple Palestinians have been killed by gunfire near aid distribution sites since GHF began operations.

More than 20 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire near aid distribution sites in Gaza on Thursday, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

The ministry said 13 people were killed and more than 100 injured by Israeli fire near the aid distribution site in central Gaza along the Netzarim Corridor early Thursday morning.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said they fired “warning shots” at people they say “posed a threat” to Israeli troops. The military also said that “the number of reported individuals injured does not align with the information held by the IDF.”

Another eight Palestinians were killed near distribution sites in southern Rafah early Thursday morning as they were seeking aid, according to the health ministry. CNN has reached out to the IDF for comment.

GHF said that three distribution sites were open on Thursday, two in southern Gaza and one in central Gaza. The organization said they handed out approximately 45,000 boxes of pre-packaged food

Late Wednesday the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said it “continues to receive reports from the Gaza Strip of people being killed and injured while trying to access food.” It did not specify any locations.

“OCHA reiterates in the strongest terms possible that no one should be forced to risk their lives to receive aid, as people across Gaza are at risk of famine,” it said.

Telecoms blackout

A near-total communications blackout in parts of Gaza has now lasted over 24 hours, internet monitoring site Netblocks has said, warning the disruption would hamper search, rescue and aid efforts in the enclave that has been battered by Israeli military strikes.

The disruption in Gaza City and northern Gaza is the longest in recent months and continues to “severely limit visibility into events on the ground,” the site said in a post on Wednesday.

The blackout affects both physical and wireless data connections, as well as mobile phone usage.

CNN’s team in Jerusalem has been unable to contact anyone in Gaza since Wednesday.

“The collapse of telecommunications services, internet connectivity and emergency communication systems is again a real threat,” the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on Wednesday.

“This would cripple life-saving coordination and prevent affected communities from receiving critical information.”

Reports of disruptions in central and southern Gaza began to emerge Thursday.

“Metrics show further disruptions to internet connectivity across the Gaza Strip; the telecoms disruptions are likely to impact search, rescue and aid efforts,” Netblocks said in an update.

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